Chamberlain was a freak athlete and would have probably been dominant in any era.
Here are a few things about him:
How Wilt Changed the Game
In 1955, Wilt scored 100 points in a game at Hershey, Pennsylvania. That game proved one thing to the NBA braintrust, that they can't let one man dominate a game inside the way Wilt Chamberlain had been doing. The NBA needed to make it fair for the other players who didn't have the athletic skills and size.
Rules Changes
- The lane was widened from 6 to 12 feet to make it more difficult for players such as Wilt to post up and receive a lob pass for an easy two points.
- The NBA initiated offensive goaltending, in which players couldn't touch the ball going in a downward trajectory toward the hoop or flick the ball away when it was within the cylinder of the basket.
- Rulemakers also banned the practice of lobbing the ball in from the baseline directly over the backboard so a player like Chamberlain couldn't catch it near the basket in position for an easy score.
Where it all began for Wilt: Overbrook High School at 59th and Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia. He was a legend when he played and still a legend today.
Records, Records, and More Records
Wilt Chamberlain had held 72 NBA records, according to
NBA.com. Just to name a few:
- Most seasons leading the league in minutes: 8
- Most points in a game: 100
- Highest scoring average in a season: 50.4
- Most seasons leading the league in field goal percentage: 9
- Highest average in rebounds over a career: 22.9
- Most free throws made in a game: 28 (and he was an awful free throw shooter)
- Never was disqualified from an NBA game
- Most completed games in a season: 79
More Reasons Wilt Was the Greatest Athlete Ever
Wilt wasn't just a basketball player. There wasn't anything he couldn't do in sports.
Track and Field
At Overbrook High School in West Philadelphia, he was an avid track and field star: He high jumped 6 feet, 6 inches; ran the 440 yards in 49.0 seconds and the 880 yards in 1:58.3; propelled the shot put 53 feet, 4 inches; and broad jumped 22 feet.
In college at the University of Kansas, the 7'1" goliath ran a sub-11-second 100-yard dash and also threw the shot put 56 feet. Despite competing and excelling in both sprinting and throwing, these were not his best events. Chamberlain triple jumped more than 50 feet and successfully won the Big 8 Conference high jumping competition three years in a row
Volleyball
After his basketball career ended, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association, was president of this organization, and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame for his contributions.